Raceland saddle maker says his work has worldwide appeal

Sunday

With businesses investing millions of dollars annually on advertisements, itís amazing that someone has found a way to carve out a living for himself without a shred of publicity.

According to Raceland resident Bill Hill, who has been making and repairing saddles for more than 20 years, heís never had to seek out work.

"They come to me," Hill said. "Everything I do comes from word-of-mouth. Itís actually got to the point lately where Iíve had to turn down work just to get caught up."

If someone gives him a call about a potential job, the next step is finding him.

After owning and operating a leather shop in Raceland for many years, Hill made the decision to find a quieter place to work.

He wanted a location where someone would have to go to a lot of effort to bother him.

Luckily, Hill happened to own a piece of property that satisfied that need.

After building a workshop down a dusty trail and placing an apartment above it, Hill was ready to move in.

Former customers of Hill are often left to give prospective clients detailed directions to his shop.

"It (the workshop) works well for me," Hill said. "I can focus on my work out here. When I owned the (other) shop, I would usually have to stay there until late at night to catch up on the things I couldnít get done during the day because of phone calls and people stopping by wanting to chat."

In the early í80s, Hill got laid off from his job on the river, along with a lot of other local residents, when the Louisiana oil industry took a downturn.

"People kind of came to me because they knew I could make minor repairs," Hill said. "I picked it up because I would repair my own stuff when something broke or needed fixing."

Always good with his hands, Hill headed to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and met up with a saddle-maker named Bruce Cheaney.

Before that, Hill only knew how to fix and make the accompanying pieces that went in to a saddle.

"I made friends with the guy," Hill said. "Heís a well-known saddle-maker, and he showed me how to take what I already knew and use that to make saddles."

Hill soon built up his reputation thanks to quality work.

He currently repairs and makes saddles for many local residents.

His customers include boat-company executives from down the bayou and horsemen and women from all over the country.

On Monday, Hill was working on horse halters for a woman from Australia.

"Sheís a good customer of mine," Hill said. "I get calls from people from all over the world that know about my work. It really is amazing when you think about it."

After waiting about two years, Hill got a brief blurb in an international magazine that helped bring him more business from people abroad.

"The crazy thing is that woman from Australia talked to other people in her circles, and I started getting calls from them as well," Hill said.

Hill said heís only one of two people he knows of locally who make saddles.

The other saddle-maker lives in Bayou Blue.

"We get along with each other," he said. "I actually send business his way. Weíve learned different things from each other over the years. The only difference is I do this full time, and he does it on a more-limited basis."

While his trade may not be practiced much locally, Hill pulled out a magazine showing hundreds of people across the country who make some sort of horse accessory.

"Everyone specializes in something unique," Hill said. "Thereís really a lot more to this industry than most realize."

When someone decides to become a saddle-maker, he or she better prepare for some long hours.

Hill said he spends roughly 100 hours on each saddle he makes.

A single saddle has 25 different components.

To help him out, he has patterns he uses for each individual piece.

The process to make a saddle begins by taking half a roll of leather and stretching it out on a table.

Hill explains that different parts of a calfís skin are used for various pieces of the saddle.

After soaking the calfís skin in water, Hill cuts out different pieces to fit on something called a "tree."

The tree is encased in fiberglass.

The leather components are fitted over the tree to make the saddle.

To make the various designs that go on the saddle, Hill uses stamping tools that make impressions in the leather.

He uses a mallet-type hammer to create the impressions. Other tools help him put more detail into his designs.

Hill even has cutting tools he uses.

"A lot goes into what I do for a living," Hill said. "Making a saddle takes a while, but itís rewarding when you finish and get to look at your work."

Getting the pieces to fit together requires him to use a combination of machine- and hand-sewing techniques.

"I do as much of my own sewing as possible," Hill said. "I believe in giving someone as much of a custom product as I can, so thatís why I spend so much time sewing."

Once completed, his saddles fetch a good price.

An average saddle fashioned from Hillís hands is sold for $2,500. Hill said thatís his base price.

He said he makes between 10 and 12 per year.

"I actually canít physically make many more than that to be honest with you," Hill said.

Hill has befriended many people in horse circles and the consensus opinion about him seems positive.

Dickie Fanguy, a blacksmith from Houma, said he met Hill years ago when the saddle-maker had his leather shop in Raceland.

He did some work for him and encouraged him to make his first saddle in the late í80s.

Until it was stolen five years ago, Fanguy said it was still in pristine condition.

"Heís an artist," he said. "What he can do with his hands is amazing. That first saddle looked like one you would get from someone whoíd been making them all their life."

Since heís traveled all over the country and seen lots of leather products, including saddles, Fanguy believes heís an authority on whatís good, average and not-so-good when it comes to saddles.

"I would put one of his saddles up against any Iíve ever seen," Fanguy said. "The funny thing is many of those saddles are sold for 10 to 20 times as much as what Bill charges. He might very well be the best-kept secret in south Louisiana."

Another horseman from Schriever, Clint Allemand, said the work Hill generates tops any heís ever seen.

"Itís amazing what he does," Allemand said. "If he had someone promoting his work, heíd probably be famous around the world. I believe that people who have his work will one day have something thatís worth a lot of money because of the time and effort he puts into each piece."

Hill said he feels blessed to have made a living building custom saddles for others.

"Iím a lucky guy," he said. "This is something I like to do, and Iím able to do it and make money from it."

While many have expressed interest in his trade, heís not sure how many people will keep it going after heís gone.

"Iíve had teens and older retirees come to my shop wanting to learn how to do this," Hill said. "But usually their interest will fade away after a few weeks."

Despite this, Hill said heís always willing to show people how he makes his saddles if theyíre interested.

"Iíve been doing it for a while and it isnít something I want to hide from people," he said. "Iím proud of what I do and plan on continuing to do it as long as I can."

Since heís self-employed, Hill currently works at Wal-Mart to help pay for health insurance.

"Since I was starting to get up in age, I took a job working there from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday," Hill said.

If heís not at Wal-Mart, Hill spends his time in his shop repairing and making saddles.

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